"What is real and what is not?"
North Carolina is humid and sticky in the summertime heat. Dr. Temperance (Tempe) Brennan, exiled from the MCME after a new boss replaced her colleague, Larabee, becomes involved in an extremely complicated investigation along with her PI friend, Skinny Slidell. This is the 19th book in a popular, long-running series featuring the forensic anthropologist and is another entertaining and compelling read. I've been hit and miss following the release of new novels by this author, and can attest to the ease of dropping in out of order. Reichs gives plenty of background so that you won't feel lost.
A faceless corpse discovered in the woods, a cold case involving a missing child, a conspiracy-crazed talk show host, a hidden and rehabbed missle silo ready for the apocalypse, and so much more combine to give Tempe and her cohort a seriously challenging situation. Compound all that as Tempe is recovering from surgery after discovering that she has a brain aneurysm with Andrew Ryan (her Canadian boyfriend) being back in Montreal and not around to provide a foil for her intensity. The truth will take a long time to uncover and require Tempe to do some very frequent self analysis as she navigates the twists and turns of this unusual web with more questions than answers. Who is the dead man and what happened to him are only a small part of the big picture. NO SPOILERS.
I like the first person narrative and I like the character that is Tempe Brennan. She's complicated, super smart, and sometimes very funny. I enjoy the forensic details and I relish reading how Tempe's mind works though she's a bit determined and not as cautious as she should be. The writing is excellent and, even though there are a ton of characters to keep straight, the strings are all nicely tied together. It's fun to read how Tempe learns and uses new technology and how she works all the angles of a particular problem or issue. I definitely recommend this series. Even though the TV show, BONES, is based loosely on the persona that is Temperance Brennan, the books have a lot of differences to that whole set-up and are so rewarding to read. I can't wait for #20 in the series.
Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for this e-book ARC to read, review and recommend.
This is #19 in the series but can be read as a standalone.
Genre - forensic anthropologist, mystery
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